1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to thermal management of radio frequency identification (RFID) tag readers.
2. Background Art
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are electronic devices that may be affixed to items whose presence is to be detected and/or monitored. RFID tags are read or interrogated by RFID readers on which one or more interrogator antennas reside. RFID readers are conventionally kept in an ON state for a considerable portion of their operating cycles. This results in excessive power consumption and over-heating. Over-heating of the RFID reader may further lead to erroneous functioning or even worse, a permanent damage to the RFID reader's electronic circuitry rendering the RFID reader useless.
Thus, what is needed is an efficient thermal management system and method for controlling temperature variations in an RFID reader and thereby avoid over-heating and damage of the RFID reader components.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.